Syrian Kurdish officials and an activist group say USA -backed fighters have seized a key Islamic State stronghold in northern Syria after two months of heavy fighting and freed hundreds of civilians the extremists had used as human shields.
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Human rights monitors said that around 500 vehicles, containing ISIL fighters and their hostages, were seen fleeing Manbij, north, towards Jarablus, a town still held by the group.
The SDF, formed previous year by recruiting Arabs to join forces with the powerful YPG Kurdish militia, launched an offensive with the support of US -led strikes at the end of May to remove IS from areas it controls along the Turkish border.
Fleeing jihadists took around 2,000 civilians, including women and children, on Friday to ward off air strikes as they headed to the IS-held frontier town of Jarabulus, according to the SDF. Wrestling control of Mabij from ISIS marks the biggest defeat for the group in Syria since July 2015, notes the Associated Press, and comes amid a string of territorial losses for the extremist group.
The U.S. says the capture sets conditions to move on to Raqqa, the de facto capital for ISIS, now cut off from receiving supplies from Manbij.
Thousands of internally displaced people have returned to Manbij, now that the IS has abandoned its former stronghold.
Syrian troops repelled a thrust by al-Qaida-allied militants west of Khanaser in southern Aleppo province aimed at cutting the supply line.
IS has also used civilians as human shields, booby-trapped cars and carried out suicide bombings to slow advances by their opponents.
But while the USA and its allies prepare for that tough battle, resident of Manbij will likely return to a state of relative normalcy that existed before ISIS captured the town.
A girl reacts while walking with women after they were evacuated with others by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016.
Darwish attributed the speedy return to life in the city to a military and aerial campaign that he said spared many neighbourhoods where thousands of civilians had remained even at the height of fighting.
Coalition officials also voiced concern over the possible presence of Islamic State sleeper cells, whose fighters masquerading as civilians could stage surprise attacks later against SDF forces.
The Observatory said women and children were among those killed. But after an array of rebels and extremists linked to al-Qaida broke the government siege of opposition neighborhoods earlier this month, the rebels escalated the assault to besiege the government side.
The group said it had seen a letter from SDF forces threatening to push further into IS territory if militants did not agree to free the captured civilians in exchange for IS prisoners. The fighting continued despite a pledge by Russian Federation to observe a three-hour daily ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid deliveries. An estimated 1.5 million people live in the city, including about 250,000 in rebel-held districts.
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Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011.
